Week Zero - Tuesday - Lithuania's Room

[herbgrace]

[Lithuania brings Poland to her room early in the morning on Tuesday. She said she would explain the scars, and she still intends to do that. Of course, she doesn't know how to get started on that topic, so instead she locks the door behind the two of them and... Stands there. Awkwardly. But Poland is probably used to that.

Well, it might be a good idea to let Poland get examining her room out of her system first anyway. Lithuania hasn't done anything at all to it yet except dust it, and of course she's made the bed well enough it looks like it hasn't been slept in.]

Comments

[sobowtor]

[Poland can sense the awkwardness. Really. You could cut it with a knife if you wanted to. Even Siarka scuttles under the bed to get away from it.

Poland bounds onto Lithuania's neatly made bed with a big bounce, messing up her neatly made sheets instantaneously.]

Oh it looks almost just like mine. Maybe bigger. [Or maybe that's just because Lithuania didn't upend her closet all over the room.]

[herbgrace]

Have you already gone through your clothes? [That's the only reason Lithuania can think that Poland's room would seem smaller. Also, Poland tends to do that.]

[sobowtor]

Well I had to get dressed this morning, so obviously.

[There's housekeeping here? What's the problem.]

Oh! [Poland launches off the bed to pull through Lithuania's closet.]

Ooh.

[herbgrace]

Don't pull everything out, please. [This may be a useless request, but she's going to try. Lithuania's outfits are mostly things with pants, unsurprisingly.]

[sobowtor]

[So many pants.]

I just want to see. [With her hands. Always with her hands.] Clothes are important.

[herbgrace]

If you just want to see, put your hands down. [Look with your eyes! Lithuania is still standing by the door, incidentally.]

[sobowtor]

[Poland is busy man handling a pair of slacks when she turns to see Lithuania still at the door.]

You can come in you know. Pull off your shoesies, take a seat. Want a snack?

[herbgrace]

Oh--sorry, I was just-- [Thinking... Lithuania finally moves to sit on the edge of the bed.] I don't have any food in the room. Sorry. [Since Poland is Poland. But knowing Poland, she probably brought some of her own from the kitchen.]

[sobowtor]

[Poland shakes out an orange from a puffy shoulder sleeve.

She’s not getting poisoned, nuh uh!]

Want half?

[herbgrace]

No thank you. [Lithuania's pretty sure she's too stressed for food to do anything more than churn her stomach right now.

...Well. She's never been good at leading into things. Might as well be blunt. And so, with no lead-in at all:]

The scars are from the last century or so. Russia. Mostly Russia. [Not all Russia, but a lot of them.]

[sobowtor]

[Poland rolls the orange around in her hands gingerly, not looking up at Lithuania. She hadn't quite figured out how she was supposed to act when Lithuania finally brought this up with her.]


....I figured as much. [The reply is probably much more muted than anyicipated-- Poland's still angry over it but with time it's simmered into a quieter form.]

[herbgrace]

[Lithuania expected more anger out of Poland; she didn't expect maturity. There's still anger there, Lithuania is sure, but there isn't shouting or asking to see. Thinking about them like this, she can feel how the skin of her back stretches stiffly when she moves.

But not as much as a decade ago. Not as much as two decades ago. Time passes.]

I could tell you what each of them mean--there's--several. But I'm sure you can imagine. [The World Wars, Lithuania's small rebellions, everything in between.]

I didn't want you to find out like--like that. [She didn't really want Poland to know at all. Or anyone else.]

[sobowtor]

[Poland scratches her nails along the skin of the fruit, her eyebrows furrowing. Whoever was responsible for sharing something like this made her angry too. Poland hadn't pried for all these years, even though she was aching for Lithuania to finally feel like she could confide in her-- only to have it shared with strangers in the pages of some silly murder rule book?]

I can pretend it didn't happen if you want. If that's easier I mean.

[herbgrace]

You don't have to do that. [But it means a lot to her that Poland would offer.] Well--I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone at home, of course.

[Poland is often bad at keeping her mouth shut, but this is serious, so it's different.]

1/2

[sobowtor]

[Poland looks up from her fruit with an unusually serious expression.] I won't tell anyone.

2/2

[sobowtor]

[Poland offers Lithuania a pinky.]

I promise.

[She'd already done it for a century, what's an eternity more?]

[herbgrace]

[In spite of the gravitas of the topic at hand, Lithuania finds herself smiling as she locks her pinky with Poland's.]

Thank you.

1/2

[sobowtor]

[Poland knows that seeing Lithuania smile even under "normal" circumstances is a little hard to come by.

So. She's a little apprehensive to even broach the subject but--]

2/2

[sobowtor]

I mean.

I probably wouldn't ever trust someone who did share something like this with everyone...

[herbgrace]

Well, of course not. [Lithuania has completely missed any implications Poland might be making.]

[sobowtor]

I mean it's like, really rude. Especially when it's in published form to read again and again...

[herbgrace]

Yes...? [???]

[sobowtor]

I mean!

Who would even do something like that to someone that might even be their own country isn't that like treason or something sure sounds like it...

[herbgrace]

I don't-- [Wait.] Are you talking about Miata?

1/2

[sobowtor]

[Yes.]

No?

2/2

[sobowtor]

Wait oh my god you're right she totally did do all that stuff?

Wow.

Guess we should be on our toes around her and definitely not just trust her blindly!

[herbgrace]

[Lithuania's brow furrows immediately.] She said herself she was delivering information for someone else.

[sobowtor]

Yeah?

She said.

[herbgrace]

I believe her. [Of course Lithuania does.]

[sobowtor]

[Of course she does.]

Look! I'm not saying this to make you mad, I just don't want you to end up trusting someone who's working for someone else and might be compromised?

[Why does Lithuania always want to be the pessimist? This sucks.]

[herbgrace]

I know, and I understand, but-- [But... Lithuania tries to reach for suspicion and finds only a desire to protect.] She didn't seem happy about what she was telling us. She explained what was happening, that's all.

[sobowtor]

...well!

[Poland doesn't want to fight.

So she puffs her cheeks and sits with her arms balled into tiny fists in her lap.]

[herbgrace]

I'll be careful. [As much as one can be around someone they're at least treating as a citizen, even if Miata might be from a little farther north.]

1/3

[sobowtor]

2/3

[sobowtor]

[...]

3/3

[sobowtor]

Promise.

[Poland offers a pinky.]

[herbgrace]

[A very Poland move. Lithuania doesn't mind indulging it. Again she locks pinkies with Poland.] Promise.